This is about my recent AI searches for my Thursday’s series. For me it was an eye opening experience and my first serious encounter with these Artificial Intelligence search creations. I had jotted down several occupations to talk about in this series, first responders among them. Police songs I plan on getting to, and there are several not so complementary that I will obviously avoid. I was not hopeful for a Paramedics song. And truth be told I could not think of more than just one song about Firefighters! I thought surely there must be more? I had a similar experience with the Nurses post I did last week and used AI with similar unhelpful results.

So since it was two weeks in a row that I used AI to search with the results being more than unsatisfactory, I decided to write about it. Artificial Intelligence has been part of our lives for some time now but as many of us have experienced first hand its presence is increasing. Some people as you know have used it for writing, and for ideas and prompts I have no issues at all. But we have heard the stories about the lawyer getting statues or laws that don’t exist to academic papers with dubious facts and arguments, not to mention some publications using AI as a ghost writer.

Other than a dozen or so queries over the past months I have shied away from using the AI search function myself. Just to put that in perspective I will easily do in excess of 100 searches per week. My research is often quite specific so when I ask “Tell me the names of left handed blues guitar players?” the result gives me less names than I already knew. So here is my account of my most recent AI adventure.

First, I turned to the Microsoft AI bot Copilot. My question was “Can you give me a list of songs that honour the occupation of a Firefighter?” The songs it listed, so it tells me “provides a unique perspective on the experiences and emotions associated with firefighting.“

I also tried the AI called Gemini by Google and was told “There are many songs that pay tribute to the bravery and dedication of firefighters“.

I have provided the detailed search results below but let me summarize for you. Each search gave me five songs. The Copilot songs I checked, only one was actually about fireman and it was the “The Fireman’s Prayer” a poem that was later recorded as a song, so that was good. The other four songs, nothing to do with being an actual firefighter, some are so far fetched it’s a bit ridiculous. As I mentioned in my first post today, the AI said this for “The Fireman’s Prayer” by Dennis Beyer – A heartfelt expression of the commitment and bravery of firefighters. Yes it is just that.

From the Gemini by Google search I got one out of five songs that was actually about Firefighters as well. If you are interested the details of the search(s) are as follows below.

First from Copilot, results are in bold type. While I got the same answer for different wording, essentially my question was “Can you give me a list of songs that honour the occupation of a Firefighter?”

These songs span various genres, from rock to country, and each provides a unique perspective on the experiences and emotions associated with firefighting.

There are several songs that pay tribute to the bravery and heroism of firefighters. Here are a few notable ones:

“The Fireman” by George Strait – A country song that celebrates the life-saving work of firefighters. – the actual song lyrics sample “Last night, they had a bad one, A mile or two down the road, Well, my buddy walked out And left his woman burnin’ out of control, Well, I was down there in ’bout an hour or so, With a little mouth to mouth, she was ready to go, I’m the fireman, that’s my name“.

Ok, If it’s my house burning, I want this guy to stay in the Saloon!

Here are more songs I got that don’t have anything to do with honoring firefighters either. “Fireman” by Lil Wayne – A track that depicts the challenging life of a firefighter – not even close!

“Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd – A song capturing the emotional shielding that firefighters might adopt due to their job’s nature – this one is a real stretch.

Ok so this AI bot has not grasped the meaning of a metaphor or for that matter a euphemism. Need more proof? Here are the last two of the songs.

“Fire” by The Ohio Players – An iconic funk and soul song that serves as a tribute to firefighters. The actual lyrics are all of this nature – The way you walk and talk, Really sets me off to a four-alarm, child (yes it does, uh, uh), The way you squeeze and tease knocks me to my knees, ‘Cause you’re smokin’, baby, baby.

The words are a tribute to someone but I’m not thinking firefighter here.

“We Are All We Have” by The Casualties – A punk anthem that honors the dedication of firefighters. A sample of the actual lyrics – Hey! loud fast music. Hey! sweat and dirt, Hey! sounds from man’s soul, Hey! noise of battle, Hey! black clouds of smoke, Hey! it’s time to lose control.

Maybe it’s just me but that last line is a tip off, no, not about firefighting. Any firefighters I know would not use “time to lose control” as their mantra.

These songs are maybe tributes to the Firefighters calendar but that’s about as close as it gets.

Then I tried Gemini by Google, this below is what I got, some of the same songs as Copilot. AI results in bold.

There are many songs that pay tribute to the bravery and dedication of firefighters. Here are a few:

“The Fireman” by George Strait is a country ballad that tells the story of a firefighter who risks his life to save others. I refer you to the lyrics above from Copilot, but to remind you it’s about the narrators conquest over women.

A repeat song from Copilot as well was “Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd , while not explicitly about firefighting, is a powerful song that captures the feeling of being in a dangerous situation. Really?

The next song that came up “Brother in Arms” by Dire Straits is a song about the bond between comrades, which is a strong theme in firefighting. Now the AI is just making stuff up.

“Shine Your Light” by Robbie Robertson is a hopeful song about the importance of helping others, which is a sentiment that resonates with firefighters. This is a song that was purpose written by Robertson and used in the movie Ladder 49 which I did not see. It’s classic Robertson and beautiful song but it does not mention firefighters directly. His well crafted metaphorical approach gives the opening line “The cry of the city like a siren’s song” and thematically it speaks of the everyday person that doesn’t choose to be a hero. Got to give AI points for suggesting this one but it applies to anyone who is an emergency worker or first responder. It reminds me of his earlier song “Fallen Angel” in some ways.

Gemini by Google finished strong with a second song, I had completely missed, “Firefighter Song” by Pete Seeger is a folk song that celebrates the camaraderie and selflessness of firefighters. The song here refers to one written by the UK Folk Singer Songwriter Ewan MacColl (“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”) and going by the lyrics it is indeed a great tribute. Not to be confused with his song “Fireman’s Not for Me” which is about a jilted lover. However I cannot find a video on YouTube other than this one homemade cover version which is nicely done by Raymond Crooke I believe.

A sample of the lyrics:

I’ve fought more fires than I can count, I’ve fought ’em early and late,
I’ve breathed more smoke than the devil in hell, more steam than a boilerman’s mate.
My hands have been frozen to the branch when the night was cold and chill,
And many’s the time I’ve slowly fried like bacon on the grill.

So there you have it, for me I wonder if those of you that use search engines frequently for research are having a similar experience to mine? Now, I have been interested in music and cover songs as a hobby long before the internet was widely used and certainly before Google was invented. While I realize my searches are somewhat unique, what is happening with increasing frequency over the past few years is Google gives answers, or references that don’t match my question. Even when I word it in a different way, results come up that just don’t fit.

I realize my queries may be obscure so perhaps that is why my results are not accurate. However, the AI results would indicate that there is a great deal of misinformation presented, and how often does that happen when we try and find facts or the truth about anything?

You can expect a rant in an upcoming post on my Google and AI search results.